By Daanyaal Matthews

The Bromwell Case continues with the Constitutional Court reserving its judgement after hearing the case of the previous residents of Bromwell Street and The City of Cape Town. The matter at its heart relates to the City of Cape Town’s policy of emergency housing provided to evicted residents. The previous residents of Bromwell street have requested for urgent housing within the City limits, given that the residents have lived for generations within the community, and the City arguing that this request cannot be fulfilled and rather providing housing in other areas.

Speaking on VOC Breakfast on Thursday, Charnell Commando, lead applicant on the Bromwell matter from Housing Advocacy group Ndifuna Ukwazi, argues that the original emergency houses offered to residents of Bromwell street were not adequate for the former residents of Bromwell Street.

“We went to these sites that the city has provided, and when we got to these sites, none of it was places people should stay in. It’s inhumane for people to stay in places like that. There are no service deliveries, schools are from it, there’s no job opportunities around,” said Commando.

Commando furthers by stating that some members of the community were offered social housing but not all which caused strife within the community as many did not qualify for the social housing provided by the City of Cape Town, explaining:

“There are other housing programmes that the City has, but most of the people don’t qualify for it because of the ranges that is so high, like in the social housing, and the subsidies, your salary has to be in a certain bracket and most of the people don’t qualify for it.”

The case has been argued to set a precedent for future cases of emergency housing, and in some sense the housing crisis overall, in the City of Cape Town, and South Africa as whole, which sits in the midst of a worsening housing markets.

Photo: Pexels

VOC News